Thousand Foot Krutch’s Trevor McNevan Talks New Album, Playing in Russia + More

Thousand Foot Krutch are in the process of recording the follow-up to 2012‘s ‘The End is Where We Begin.’ They are playing some shows this spring and summer, as well, and Loudwire caught up with frontman Trevor McNevan backstage at Carolina Rebellion.

McNevan revealed some details about the album, and also discussed topics such as keeping connected with his faith while on the road, being under more of a microscope than other bands and the future of his side project FM Static.

You just got back from playing in Russia. How was it?

It was insane. Honestly, it was powerful, man. It was our second time over there. To be in a country where they don’t really speak English and to hear them, thousands of people singing every word to the songs, it’s a powerful thing. We felt very blessed.

I don’t know how else to put it, it was like Beatles crazy. They were waiting at the plane and they had all these gifts. We’re not entirely used to that. It was a little crazy, but it was awesome. Really good trip.

You’ve got some festival shows kind of scattered throughout the summer, right?

Yeah, we’re busy with festivals and with the new record, trying to get that out in August. Yeah, it will be busy but good.

What are the advantages to playing a festival like Carolina Rebellion?

I think it’s a great way for all of us to get in front of people that may or may not know about each band or might not come to your show or my show and so it’s awesome. It’s a great opportunity also to just celebrate rock with a bunch of bands who love music and that’s what we’re all about.

How is the new album progressing?

The way we work is that I work on the songs when I’m at home and on the road. When those are done, me and Steve [Augustine], the drummer, and Joel [Bruyere], the bass player, get together and go through stuff. They pour themselves into the bass and drums and we go through what’s best for the song and then by the time we get to the actual studio, we’ve done all our own pre-production.

We like to go the studio ready to track every note. That’s what we did and we started tracking last week. So from now until June 20, we’ll be in the studio doing that.

Are you producing it?

It’s actually myself and Aaron Sprinkle. Both of us have produced the last few together and Steve and Joel worked on the drums and bass as well. It’s been awesome. We’ve been doing this a long time. You learn a lot along the way. It’s something we’re passionate about, having it sound the way that we hear it. This way we get to achieve it without any kind of questions.

What else can you tell us about it?

It tentatively will be dropped on Aug. 26. It’s called ‘Oxygen Inhale.’ We’re working on a two-part thing there. There’s more to it that we’re going to launch in the next few weeks. We’re really excited. Our goal is to start releasing new music more often. That’s what we’re doing. It’s going to be a busy summer and we’ll get out on tour in the fall again.

Does having produced a few TFK albums give you the itch to produce other bands?

It does. I actually song write full time, from country to hip-hop and rock and with other bands. In that, I get to kind of develop other artists and do some production. We both kind of help each other. The more you do it the more you learn, right?

Are you guys going the independent route again like you did for the last album?

Absolutely. We really want to connect with the people who support this band on the closest level possible and this has been such an awesome way to do it. It’s been great.

What was the one thing your learned from putting the last one out yourself that’s going to help you out this time around?

Man, what did we not learn? When we went independent, we actually changed management, booking, live guitar player, tour manager, front of house guys. We literally changed everything. It’s been a lot of work and time finding chemistry between everything involved, but it’s been awesome and I think we’re the strongest we’ve ever been and it’s like we’re just getting started.

Were you surprised that even though you released it independently it still ended up being your highest charting album?

Yes. We’re so excited that people were excited about it the way that we were. It’s always such a blessing. You can’t choose that. Yeah, definitely blown away by that.

As a Christian band, you guys are under the microscope a little bit more than the average band. Do you feel the pressure of that?

We’ve always been just who we are. Our faith is who we are. It isn’t like a shirt we put on. That’s what we believe. We’re not the type of guys that are preachy type of people. That’s not our music, either. We’ve always made music for everyone. That’s just our heart. That’s what we believe. It definitely comes out in what we do. We’re not ashamed of that at all.

That said, we’re here to celebrate rock and love music. Regardless of anyone’s faith or what they believe or what they stand for, we’re here to love each other and have a great time.

When you’re away from your home church, how do you stay connected if you’re out on the road for weeks or months at at time?

We do our best. It’s easier said than done. I think these days you have so many cool little devotionals on apps and stuff. On a plane, you can read up on some stuff, spend a little quiet time. That’s probably one of the coolest ways. If you want to, you can go and watch your home church online a lot these days. We do our best to do that. We try to stay accountable to each other and we’re definitely not perfect and don’t have all the answers.

Is there going to be another FM Static album at some point?

Steve and I have always had such a blast doing that. Honestly, it’s just been so busy with TFK, there hasn’t been a decision made on that. There hasn’t been time. We both talked about it and would love to. I think there’s a good possibility of that happening.

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